You betta werk, Melanie Griffith!
The “Working Girl” star has been named a judge at this year’s Best in Drag Show, an annual benefit for APLA Health’s Alliance for Housing and Healing.
The judging panel will also include Lisa Ann Walter, Kathy Kinney, Mindy Cohn, Daniel Franzese and Variety’s own Marc Malkin.
Six amateur drag queens will compete for the tiara. Contestants include Miss California Lyle (Lyle Mackston), Miss Missouri Shania Train (Caleb Campbell), Miss New York Annie Vaxxer (former Variety intern Sasha Urban), Miss Pennsylvania Karen Beaches (Kevin Whitmire) and Miss Wisconsin Dawn-Cha Knowles (ROX, David Varela).
Best in Drag takes place Oct. 6 at The Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
Patrick Rush returns as host, Jeffrey Drew returns as director and choreographer while Kay Sedia will serve as color commentator during the show. Sponsors include Diamond Diva Sponsors: Craig Fisse & Michael Patrick King and The Orpheum Theatre; Golden Jewel Sponsors: ABC 7 Los Angeles, Paul Hastings, Henkel, Kraut Law Group, Gilead and Microsoft; Silver Sequin Sponsor: Kaiser Permanente; Fierce n’ Fabulous Friends: Andrew Rhoda & J. Ben Bourgeois, Dr. Don Bacigalupi & Daniel Feder, Fresh Corn Grill and Wimmer & Associates.
“The Little Pageant That Could,” a documentary about Best in Drag, premiered in June at the Provincetown Film Festival. The film, directed by John Carlos Frey and produced by World of Wonder, chronicles the 34-year-old show. Since its start by AIDS activists in a West Hollywood apartment in 1990, Best in Drag has raised more than $6 million for HIV/AIDS causes.
Celebrity attendance has included Christina Applegate, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Vanessa Williams, Anna Faris, Jennifer Coolidge, Chris Pratt and John C. Reilly.
For tickets, go to bestindragshow.com.
Source Agencies
